The 2025 Columbus Coffee Baking Competition kicked off in March and with it being our 30th birthday this year, of course we had to make the special ingredient our very own Columbus House Blend coffee. Our Chefs were asked to create a recipe using the Columbus House Blend that would work in our cafes and tastes delicious! We had 13 entries from around the country and our judges had a hard time deciding which one was the best.

Recipes were judged based on overall presentation, how well the recipe reads, cost effectiveness, creativity, skill, taste and texture.

Well done to our winner and runner ups:

• Winner – Coffee Bean Friand by Dan Anderson, Columbus Coffee Mitre 10 MEGA Invercargill

• 1st Runner Up – Coffee & Hazelnut Knot by Hannah Keelty, Columbus Coffee Mitre 10 MEGA Invercargill

• 2nd Runner Up – Espresso Melting Moment by Bonnie Crawford, Columbus Coffee Mitre 10 MEGA Timaru

We’d also like to mention some highly commended Chef’s entries:

• Coffee Walnut Slice by Jasmine Douglas, Columbus Coffee Mitre 10 MEGA Ferrymead

• Gingernut Latte Cheesecake by Felipe Segura, Columbus Coffee Mitre 10 MEGA Ruakura

• Brew Cake by Minty Bhadani, Columbus Coffee Auckland Hospital